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kcmeshes [2017/05/05 14:57]
kcmeshes [2021/04/27 09:19] (current)
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 +====== Meshes ======
 +
 +While the SpeedTree Modeler generates much of the geometry in a tree, using pre-made meshes in certain places can greatly enhance the aesthetics and rendering speed of a tree.
 +
 +
 +=====Mesh Assets=====
 +{{ mesh_asset_bar.png?150}}
 +Meshes are managed in the [[toolmeshesbar|Mesh Asset Bar]]. This is where you can import meshes, create whole new cutout meshes, and modify parameters about meshes, such as orientation and wind information. 
 +
 +====Cutouts====
 +{{cutout_editor_pivotpoint.jpg?250 }}
 +A quick and easy way to make a mesh without ever leaving the SpeedTree Modeler is to use the [[toolcutout_editor|Cutout Editor]]. This tool can help you make a mesh for a particular material with very little extra, empty space around it. Extra triangles can be added to make a mesh better suited for deformation.
 +
 +When modeling a low-detail tree, [[kcmesh_anchors|Mesh Anchors]] can be very useful. This feature of the Cutout Editor lets you pinpoint exactly where children will be attached. This can help you create a very "full" looking model without many triangles.
 +\\
 +\\
 +
 +
 +====Importing Meshes====
 +If you wish to have more control, you can model a mesh yourself in any third-party tool, such as Autodesk Maya or 3ds Max. The SpeedTree Modeler can import meshes in OBJ or FBX formats.
 +
 +In special cases, you can even [[expstaticmesh|export a mesh]] from SpeedTree, and import it back into a different tree. SpeedTree can be used to make flowers, pine cones, etc. that may then be placed in another tree.
 +
 +> **Note**: The "Import mesh asset" item in the "File" menu is a shortcut to importing meshes into a mesh asset quickly.
 +
 +====Mesh LOD====
 +
 +In many cases, multiple levels of complexity are needed for a single Mesh asset. You can import three mesh levels in the Mesh Asset Bar for use with [[kclod|Level of Detail]] in a real-time model, or for use with [[kcresolution|Resolution]].
 +
 +====Collections====
 +
 +A more advanced use of meshes is when dealing with [[collections|Collections]]. Collections gather parts of the tree that have already been computed, which can then be used as a mesh elsewhere. Getting vines to wrap around the branches of a tree is a great example of when to use Collections.
 +
 +=====Using Meshes=====
 +{{ :mesh_import.jpg?300|}}
 +Meshes can be used in many places on a tree. If you are unsure how to accomplish what you want with a mesh, first try clicking the drag/drop icon in the [[toolmeshesbar|Mesh Asset Bar]] and dragging it into the [[tooltree_window|Tree Window]]. The Mesh Wizard dialog (shown to the right) will appear, asking how you want to use the mesh.
 +
 +====Leaves/Fronds====
 +Meshes are very useful when dealing with leaves or fronds. Just making a [[toolcutout_editor|Cutout]] around your material's opacity channel can make leaves render more optimally. Even when you use a mesh, each leaf can be [[leaf_mesh_generator#deformation|deformed]] individually, so your leaves won't all look the same. Meshes can also be used to make fruit, flowers, buds, thorns, or any sort of small piece of a tree.
 +
 +When doing low-poly modeling, [[atclusters|Cluster]] materials with cutout meshes may, in fact, make up the bulk of your tree, especially when using [[kcmesh_anchors|Mesh Anchors]] to place the children. Bushes may be made entirely in this fashion, with no actual branches.
 +
 +====Mesh Forces====
 +[[mesh_forces|Mesh Forces]] are a way to use a mesh to influence a tree. Parts of a tree can be attracted to, repelled by, wrapped around, or cut short by a mesh. Roots can be wrapped around a rock, vines can hang down from a branch, and plants can grow up a wall, for example.
 +
 +Setting a mesh as a container area on another [[kcforces|Force]] lets you influence the [[kcgrowth|Growth]] of a tree as it moves through these different areas.
 +
 +====Props====
 +You can always place a mesh in the scene for use as a prop or background to your tree modeling. This would also be done using a [[mesh_forces|Mesh Force]], but you don't have to actually have it affect the tree in any way. You may apply a material to it so it looks like a real object in the scene.
 +
 +> **Note**: If you want the mesh to be part of the tree and export with it, tick the "Include in Model" property on the Mesh Force.
 +
 +====Zones/Terrains====
 +If you apply a mesh to a [[zone_generator|Zone]], you can have things "grow" off it. The [[tree_generator|Tree Generator]] at the base of every tree is a simplified version of a Zone. 
 +
 +Terrains for world building are a mesh terrain applied to a Zone, with [[proxy_generator|Proxies]] added procedurally to it.
 +
 +
 +====Trunks====
 +Creating a tree with a custom-modeled mesh trunk is often done for "hero" trees. This is accomplished using a Zone, as well. You would model your trunk in some other software such as Autodesk Maya or Pixologic ZBrush, import it, create a Zone using it, and then add procedural parts of the tree on top of it. You probably will need to use [[toolmasksbar|Mask Assets]] to control how/where the procedural parts grow off of the trunk.